Thursday Thoughts...

The greatest gift we can ourselves as artists is the gift of time: time to gather – to walk and read and think and see, time to play – to doodle and dabble and try new materials and mediums, time to work, and time to reflect – to let work sit and sink in so we can come back to it with fresh eyes.

Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord – Art Lessons

This is the sort of quote that I should print or have printed in HUGE letters.  I should pin it on the back of my door; on my windows; have it inside my notebooks; hold it by magnet on the fridge; find it when I open the cutlery drawer; pick it off the inside of my windscreen every morning - you name it; I should be reminded of it EVERYWHERE!

That gentle, playful, exploratory time is a gift.  A gift we can give ourselves anytime - it doesn't even have to be a birthday or anything...

I have been thinking a lot about this lately - how to make sure that I make time to drift, to doodle, to ponder, to wonder, and I hope I can find a way to make it more mainstream in my life.  Not just an occasional gift.

Oftentimes I am pursuing a project; wanting to make something I have thought about; trying to meet a deadline or whatever the case may be.  I really miss the chance to take what seems to be time out - to almost let my brain and my mind off the chain and say - off you go, let's see what happens.

A new year is just around the corner; I wonder if I will resolve to do this??

Yesterday I visited a gallery. I lay inside this construction (Living Under The Stars, LUTS, by Keg de Souza) and watched the southern hemisphere stars light up above me.  I wandered in my mind and felt playful. A good thing I think.